I know, I know - everyone is expecting and wanting breeding news.....but that's still a week or so off and in the meantime Spokane Bird Dog Association has been having some nice training days. Fowler is a mostly finished dog, but he still sometimes suffers from "the gun is a starter pistol" syndrome- meaning he hears the shot and takes off after the bird whether it's gone down or not. This can be great when a bird is lightly hit and immediate recovery is needed. But not so great when a covey goes down a mere 60 yards away and the dog runs through them assuming he is on retrieve. Now this doesn't happen everytime - if the birds are obviously gone, he won't move. But if he's feeling like there's any chance to retrieve his birdie, then all bets are off.  So while most of the time Fowler is a real joy to hunt with, there are times when his enthusiasm gets the best of him. 
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It's been a while since we have done any structured training with him. All of last fall was spent hunting wild birds, from Montana down to Arizona. So it was time for a tune up. Fowler did well - making me wonder why I brought him at all. He was steady through the shot and didn't even move a toe.  Next time we will try to shake him up with a lot of birds falling and see if he can keep his cool :)

Tule surprised us today by coming into heat about 5 weeks early. I expect breeding to occur in about 2 weeks. This would have pups due the first week of June and going home late July/early August.  If you are interested in getting on the puppy list, please contact me soonest and fill out the puppy application!